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Fun more than skin deep

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Bill Hardie wanted to mark a tattoo convention that he founded with a special touch.

“My goal was that when you opened the doors to the convention, you wouldn’t know what type of convention you were at because it was so clean,” Hardie said.

So he rolled out red carpet.

“I wanted it really nice and fun for people,” he said.

Hardie, who founded the Musink Tattoo Convention and Music Festival eight years ago, will again give the red carpet treatment to visitors during this weekend of ink, classic cars and punk-rock music at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.

Over 300 tattoo artists from around the world will be on hand for consultations and to provide tattoos to an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 enthusiasts.

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Represented will be Anaheim-based Good Time Charlie’s Tattooland, founded by Jack Rudy, who has 37 years of tattoo experience and is known for his black and gray style, realistic portraits and single-needle use.

Also on the list of artists is Nikko Hurtado, who was featured on television shows “LA Ink,” “Tattoo Wars” and “Ink Master.” His biography states that he has tattooed musicians from Drake and Brandon Boyd to Wes Borland and others.

Local tattoo shops, like Costa Mesa’s Gold Rush Tattoo, will join out-of-towners Elm St. Tattoo of Dallas and Yushi Tattoo, from Seoul, South Korea.

“We have some amazing tattoo artists,” Hardie said. “We don’t want any novice artists, because that’s only going to lead to a bad experience.”

To gain acceptance at Musink, Hardie said, applicants had to send the festival’s organizing committee an online link to their portfolios.

“It’s a great opportunity here to match what you want on your body, to have it finally put on,” Hardie said.

Hardie, who said he has tattoos that are roughly 30 years old, said he was on a mission to make Musink the best tattoo-focused event in the country. Having been to dozens of tattoo conventions across the nation, Hardie said he made a study of them to learn what made some noteworthy and others lackluster.

Musink, which has been at the OC Fair & Event Center since its inception, has usually been a sellout on Sundays, attracting about 7,500 visitors on the final evening.

“Musink serves a unique community that is a good fit for the OC Fair & Event Center,” said Linda Keasberry, the center’s event sales and services supervisor, in an email.

According to a 2012 Harris poll, one out of every five adults has at least one tattoo. A Pew Research Center study in 2010 found that 40% of people ages of 18 to 29 have at least one tattoo.

The festival also will showcase live performances by punk-rock bands Rancid, Sick of It All, Bad Religion and Blink-182.

Rancid will play its first show of 2015 during the festival’s opening night and perform songs off its first studio album in five years, “Honor Is All We Know.” After the festival, the band will head to Japan for several concerts.

Bad Religion will take the stage Saturday night, and Blink-182 with Matt Skiba will close the festival on Sunday.

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker will return as the festival’s presenter.

“Even if you’re not getting a tattoo, you’re still seeing great bands,” Hardie said. “There’s something going on every day that’s fun.”

Other events include daily tattoo contests, live performance-art shows from tattoo artists, a skateboarding demonstration and the crowning of Miss Musink, who will win a $500 cash prize.

Activities such as face-painting and contests should keep the children entertained, Hardie said.

“It’s a clean, safe, family-oriented convention and concert,” he said. .

Of the day admission price of $30 to $35, Hardie said, “I want someone to walk away saying it was a good deal.” Children under age 7 are admitted free.

All attendees will be searched, and the Sheriff’s Department will be present to enforce the laws prohibiting the tattooing people under age 18.

Of the thousands of tattoos applied at the event over the years, Hardie said what has stood out the most was a person’s request to have “Musink” tattooed to his body.

“Anyone who does that,” Hardie said with a laugh, “is a VIP here for the rest of their life.”

If You Go

What: 8th Annual Musink Tattoo Convention and Music Festival

When: 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

Cost: $30 to $199

Information: Call (714) 708-1500 or visit musink.org

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